CME and ICE Urge U.S. Regulators to Crack Down on Hyperliquid Oil Trading

CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) have urged U.S. regulators to crack down on Hyperliquid, citing risks the platform poses to oil markets and arguing it operates outside the regulatory perimeter that binds registered exchanges.

“Breaking CME, NYSE Urge US Regulators to Tighten Oversight of Hyperliquid Over Manipulation, Sanctions Risks Summary - Traditional US financial firms reportedly asked US authorities to tighten regulation of Hyperliquid (HYPE)”

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The exchanges’ complaint centers on Hyperliquid’s oil-linked perpetual swaps, which they say allow traders to speculate on oil prices without going through a registered futures commission merchant or a designated contract market.

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The Crypto Times also frames the push as a bid to curb Hyperliquid’s anonymous oil derivatives trading, warning that the platform’s failure to identify its customers could pose dangers of insider trading and sanction-evading activities.

In response to the regulatory pressure, Hyperliquid’s developers’ spokesman George Godsal said, "Every trade, every liquidation, and every funding payment is publicly verifiable in a way that no traditional exchange can match."

ICE and CME warned the CFTC that Hyperliquid’s anonymous trading system could impact global pricing benchmarks, and they urged the platform to become registered with the CFTC so requirements like customer identification, trade surveillance, and market oversight apply.

Coinpaper reports that CME and ICE raised concerns with officials at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and members of Congress about market manipulation, sanctions evasion, and the possible effect of decentralized trading activity on traditional commodity price discovery.

CoinGape

ICE senior vice president for futures Trabue Bland said, "It’s all about benchmark integrity." and added, "If there’s something that could impact that, completely outside of anyone’s oversight, I think that’s problematic,".

Hyperliquid Policy Center pushed back against the framing, arguing that "Hyperliquid offers enhanced market transparency" as legacy exchanges raise concerns over oil trading risks.

After the regulatory push was reported, Hyperliquid’s native token HYPE fell, with Coinpaper saying HYPE fell after the Bloomberg report and that the token declined from above $45 to below $43 before trading near $44.

“CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, are urging U”

Coinpaper

CoinGape similarly reported that the HYPE token slid from an intraday high of around $45 to around $43, and it tied the move to CME and NYSE urging U.S. regulators to regulate Hyperliquid over concerns of market manipulation and sanctions evasion.

The Crypto Times also reported that the oil-indexed perpetual future contracts offered by Hyperliquid experienced rapid growth in April amid heightened conflict surrounding Iran, with average daily turnover exceeding $700 million.

Looking ahead, Coinpaper said CME is preparing to launch Bitcoin Volatility Futures on June 1 and Nasdaq CME Crypto Index Futures on June 8, pending regulatory approval, while the regulatory debate is unfolding alongside the CLARITY Act moving out of the Senate Banking Committee.